Articles about Wild Card

Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble (PETE) is an artist cooperative dedicated to creating new theatrical events that reify the relationship between audience and artist. They develop original, ensemble-generated pieces and produce innovative interpretations of classical text. PETE founders include Third Rail Company Member Rebecca Lingafelter and Cristi Miles, last seen with us in Midsummer (a play with songs). Third Rail Company Member Mark Valadez also works as PETE’s resident sound designer. So, it is a natural fit to present a production by PETE as our second Wild Card presentation!

PETE believes in the power of consensus, collaboration, and ensemble in the act of making theatre, something that links them organically to Third Rail. While each of their productions is unique, they are marked by an interest in rigor, physical storytelling and notions of psychological surrealism. Past productions include R3, the highly-acclaimed re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Richard III and The Three Sisters, which featured Third Rail Company Members Isaac Lamb and Michael O’Connell.

We are excited to host and experience PETE’s newest piece – All Well, a sound-installation that will envelop audiences in the pitch black of an icebound ship, midwinter. All Well will travel through the hidden spaces of the Imago Theatre, on a journey inspired by the doomed Franklin Expedition of 1845-48. Directed by Jacob Coleman and featuring an immersive soundscape by Mark Valadez, All Well will submerge audiences in the darkness of the lost explorer, far from home. Each performance will be limited to 25 audience members, each of whom will experience the piece from the comfort of their own hammock. All Well is conceived and created by PETE’s core ensemble of performers and designers: Jenny Ampersand, Robert Quillen Camp, Jacob Coleman, Miranda K. Hardy, Peter Ksander, Rebecca Lingafelter, Paige McKinney, Cristi Miles, Mark Valadez and Amber Whitehall.

October is shaping up to be an exciting month at Third Rail. Honestly, all of the months are exciting here but we really do believe October is going to be particularly special (and you can tell July we said that!). Why will October be so notable?

Closes October 10

So, we start the month with the last two weekends of this wonderful production. If you have not yet seen it, you are missing a truly excellent play about one of the first female playwrights, written by one of the great modern female playwrights, and starring two of Portland’s greatest female actors. It’s not too late to start your Third Rail October with us by seeing Or,!

Opens October 23

Not two weeks later, we open our next show, The Realistic Joneses by Will Eno – who wrote last year’s hit, Middletown. Directed by Company Member Rebecca Lingafelter and starring Company Members Michael O’Connell, Kerry Ryan, and Darius Pierce, along with guest artist Dana Green, who you may remember from her Drammy-nominated work in Gidion’s Knot. This is an hilarious and deeply human play that will gracefully and humorously grab the baton from Or,.

October 27 – November 1

Following the success of The Bylines: Meant to Be, October also bring us our second Wild Card! PETE: All Well looks to be a unique immersive experience: a sound-installation which will envelop audiences in the pitch black world of an icebound ship. Featuring a soundscape by PETE’s resident sound designer and Third Rail Company Member Mark Valadez, each performance will be limited to 25 audience members who will experience the piece from the comfort of their own hammock. With only 25 hammocks available each show, you’ll want to make sure you reserve your tickets as soon as possible.

October 18th

October also sees the beginning of perhaps our most anticipated NT Live screening ever – Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Our Hamlet engagement began with four scheduled screenings which sold out so quickly that we have already added four additional showings. Get tickets while you can, they certainly won’t be around much longer.

October 25

As is true every month, we’ll also have a Bloody Sunday reading of a show we are considering for future production. Bloody Sunday readings are Members Only events and a unique way to peek inside the Third Rail process. In fact, October is going to be one of the best possible months to become a member – for under $30, you would have unlimited access to two Main Stage productions, a Wild Card production, and NT Live’s Hamlet – over $130 in programming! So the only question left is…

Everyone at Third Rail is thrilled to be presenting The Bylines in their new show Meant To Be. For a long time, we’ve been huge fans of The Bylines’ music and huge fans of them personally. So, they were a natural choice for our first Wild Card presentation. (Remember, Members get free unlimited access to all Wild Cards!)

The Bylines have spent years performing in clubs, music venues, and at festivals. Their music is beautiful, poignant and funny. They know how to write good songs and put on entertaining shows. But this show is different. “We’re getting a little more personal…a little more intimate, a little more theatrical…this is something you will sit up in your seat for, a story you will get caught up in. We’re partnering with Third Rail Repertory Theatre, a company that knows us and believes in what we do.”

The band will feature the marvelous lead vocals of Marianna Thielen, piano and vocals by the tremendously talented Reece Marshburn, drums, bass, and a four-piece horn section. The show will also feature dancers, special guests, and members of Third Rail! (Amy Beth Frankel tap dancing?? You’ll have to come to find out….)

Each show will be followed by an “after party”, where audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions and to make requests. And who knows what special guests might show up to sit in with the band?

Every time we hear the unmistakable melodies of The Bylines, we lean forward and our hearts are filled. The Wild Cards allow us to work with and share with you artists we love. We love The Bylines. And we’re quite sure that you will, too.

The first show is tonight at 7:30 and runs through Saturday at Imago. Just four chances to have a drink, grab a seat, and fill your heart with song!

Up this week at Third Rail is our very first Wild Card event! The Bylines have spent years performing in clubs, music venues, and at festivals; they know how to write great songs and are known for their highly entertaining shows. But this show is different. They’re getting a little more personal… a little more intimate, a little more theatrical… this is something you will sit up in your seat for, something you will get caught up in.

Running Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 at Third Rail @ Imago, this is something you don’t want to miss. If you are a Member of Third Rail, your ticket is free, but you’ll still want to make a reservation to guarantee your spot by calling the Box Office at 503-235-1101 or emailing boxoffice@thirdrailrep.org. Single tickets are also available for purchase here. We can’t wait to see you there!

Also up this week is our first Members Only Bloody Sunday reading. Come hang out with the Company as we read a play in consideration for production. Enjoy a Bloody Mary (or similar morning appropriate beverage themed to the reading). Good plays, good drinks, great community, and great discussions. Not yet a Member? No problem! Sign up here!

At Third Rail, we know that your week wouldn’t be complete without knowing what’s happening in our neck of the woods. So, it is time once again for This Week at Third Rail!

This week at Third Rail, we have our first read of Or,! There is nothing quite like the excitement of the first time the entire cast and creative team of a show gather in one room and start to become a collective.

What exactly will happen at the Or, first read? There is one way that you can find out. Become a Member! This is one of the events available to Members only. Members are invited to join us all season for each of our first reads. Hear the actors dive into this beautiful language and enjoy the designers’ presentations of their concepts for the world of the play. This is a great way to get a behind the scenes peek into Third Rail’s distinctive process and deepen your conversation with the play far beyond seeing the final production. Call our box office at 503-235-1101 or visit thirdrailrep.org/membership for more details on the benefits of Membership!

This week, we’re also finalizing details for our first Wild Card presentation. We are so happy to be presenting The Bylines! They are a beautiful band creating a personal, intimate, theatrical show for our audience. The band will include Reece and Marianna, drums, bass, and a four-piece horn section. In addition, the show will feature guest dancers and actors – including members of Third Rail’s Core Company, Darius Pierce, Amy Beth Frankel, and Isaac Lamb. More about this next week as the performances will be fast approaching! Single tickets are available by following the link above, and we should mention that Members get into all the Wild Cards for free!

Want to know more about The Bylines, our co-producers for our first Wildcard event? Read on!

Portland’s The Bylines exist in a unique musical plane, at once inspired by the big-band past of glamorous pop performances and rooted in the present realm of intricate and highly addictive songwriting. With a focus on grand live spectacle–a facet of music often lost in the digital age–the group is equally at home in velvet-curtained jazz halls, large rooms and intimate venues.

Their sound is the product of a marriage both sonic and literal. The Bylines is made up of two married songwriters whose styles and influences converge to bring catchy, addictive sounds to vibrant life. Frontwoman Marianna Thielen, the glamorous face of the group, brings to the fore a background in composition, classical vocal work and, most obviously, musical theater, illuminating the stage with endlessly watchable bravado backed up by her powerful — yet playful — vocal prowess. Meanwhile, gliding his fingers across the keys is Reece Marshburn, letting loose a symphony of intricate melodies rooted in a combination of classical, jazz and pop music.

The resulting combination is a unique pop confection drawing on decades of influences. As if Cole Porter, Carole King, Dusty Springfield, Freddie Mercury, Paul Simon, Rufus Wainwright and Regina Spektor filtered their unique compositions through classical maestros and film composers, then sprinkled it with a keen pop sensibility and a commitment to putting on the most involving, charismatic and personalized live shows this side of the Copacabana.

Whether performing as a Thielen/Marshburn duo or with a larger band, the result is a blend of butter-smooth melodies, densely layered songwriting and powerful vocals. Most importantly, though, The Bylines musical cocktail goes down easy, and emphasizes something that is so often forgotten when such prolific songwriters present their craft: listening to music is, above all, supposed to be an experience… and a fun one.

We have been preparing to roll out our new Membership Program and our exciting kick-off event was on Monday! It was a huge success. The turn-out was humbling and the entertainment kept everyone thoroughly… well… entertained! We had guest performances by The Bylines, Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble (PETE), Éowyn Emerald and Dancers – just a small sample of some of the programming that will be available to you as a Member! Then, Maureen and Scott filled us in on all the details of Membership – a brand new, intimate, comprehensive way to interact with Third Rail. No other theatre company in Portland (maybe anywhere?) is offering such an opportunity. Get all the details and join us.

Now that the Sneak Peak Party is behind us and the Membership Program is in full effect, we can turn a little bit more of our attention to our big move. As you probably know, we’re starting our residency at Imago this season, a beautiful temporary home. And it’s not just for our productions, but for NT Live, readings, Wild Cards, and our offices! Bringing all of our programming under one roof will help us shore up the foundation of our organization and maximize our ability to serve our Members and patrons. Next week, you’ll get all the details about saying goodbye to the ConWay building and settling into our next stop, as we look toward finding Third Rail’s permanent home in the coming years.

Even though it’s summertime, there’s a whole lot going here at Third Rail as we prepare for our tenth year and our big move to our interim home at Imago Theatre.

This weekend, join us for a special encore presentation of the NT Live hit, The Audienceby Peter Morgan, starring Helen Mirren.

On the company business docket this week is the first design meeting for Or, by Liz Duffy Adams at which the director and designers will start to create the vision for the sound, sights, and feel of the world of the play.

This week is also about packing, packing, packing. After a long time of having our office and rehearsal space in NW Portland, and ten years of being fairly nomadic in performance venues, we are moving our entire operations under one roof at Imago Theatre (17 SE 8th Avenue, just south of Burnside). We look forward to being residents at Imago as we work toward finding our own permanent home within the next three years.

We are also busy getting our Membership Program ready to roll out. Third Rail is significantly increasing programming from fifteen events over the course of the year to FORTY. (SAY WHAT?!) Members will have full access to all of it for $29.33 a month. Offerings will include four main stage shows, four Wild Card productions (co-productions with other performing arts groups), NT Live presentations (including festivals, encores, and new premieres), classes, salons, readings and workshop series, and parties. Plus, when seats are available, members can see things multiple times without incurring additional cost, and can also bring friends at a discount. All told, the yearly value of a Membership (not including repeat attendance) is over $700, so you’re basically getting all that programming for half that price. We want to break the mold and throw the doors open wide in an innovative and exciting model that encourages deeper participation versus mere attendance. We want to create a vibrant and dynamic place where you can join us and other artists like The Bylines (live music) and PETE (experimental theatre) for creative interaction. With your low monthly fee you can attend all of our programming at no additional cost. Curious? Call our box office for more information at 503-235-1101.

And so, as you can see, there is a lot going on. It is keeping us on our toes. Now excuse us while we get back to moving these heavy boxes. More soon!

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The mission of Third Rail Repertory Theatre is to provide a dynamic artistic home for theatre audiences in Portland by fostering a professional local company, which, through collaboration and discipline, brings to life exceptional stories that provoke dialogue, encourage empathy, and inspire curiosity.